Naruto: A Puppet Master
by IrritatedMind
Summary: Summary: When a Suna ninja visits Konoha, he saves the young Naruto from an angry mob. In doing so, he brings about a change in the young boy's life, which will lead to the first puppet master Konoha's ever produced. The relationship between Naruto and Kurama is going to be based off black butler. Side pairing of Gaara/Yakumo
1. Prolouge

Naruto: A Puppet Master

Prologue: Striking a Deal

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Beta'ed by: afraidtochange and xXMidnightRomanceXx

Summary: When a Suna ninja visits Konoha, he saves the young Naruto from an angry mob. In doing so, he brings about a change in the young boy's life, which will lead to the first puppet master Konoha's ever produced.

_A/N: __**(Kugutsu no jutsu can be translated as The Art of Puppets or as Puppet Technique, I will use it both ways)**_

_Main Pairing: NaruTen_

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was meditating inside the seal, when he felt a large amount of foreign chakra enter his prison. 'So my container is finally going into labor. It is about time, any longer and I might not have had the energy needed to fight off her husband and escape.' As the beast's eyes opened he found himself pinned to a ball of molten rock by many wooden polls. 'You shall not keep me here for much longer Kushina, but worry not as the village, and your child shall be spared from my wrath. I do not blame your Shodaime for trapping me all those years ago. Besides it gave me a break from those pesky siblings of mine.'

As the thoughts went through his mind the Kitsune let out a roar. When he did, the wooden poles broke away, only to be replaced by large spikes of chakra. The Kyuubi didn't have time to fight against them, luckily, as they faded away. Within seconds the Kyuubi felt a darker chakra enter the seal and the poles were back stronger than ever.

After ten minutes though they faded and the Kyuubi felt his seal rip open. As the beast was removed from the seal he came face to face with a dying Kushina, who was being chained to a couple of rocks in an almost sacrificial way, and a masked man with the sharingan showing through a single hole. As the doujutsu tried to take a hold of the demon's mind, the kitsune swatted the masked man away as the Yondaime Hokage came onto the scene.

The Hokage took one look at the creature and got into a fighting stance. "Listen mortal the only thing I want at the moment is to kill the Uchiha clan. They would have been left alone, but trying to control me is something that I won't allow; besides the only one capable would have been Madara."

The Yondaime frowned as the beast spoke. "I am sorry, but as the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, I will not be able to allow that."

The Kyuubi let out a soft growl. "Well then your village will burn ningen. You may want to move that child of your's to a safer location."

(Exactly Five Years Later)

If one were to look around Konohagakure they wouldn't be able to tell the Kyuubi had attacked only five years ago. Yet all of the residents remembered that terrible night. Ever since that night, the village had almost been spilt down the middle. The shinobi force had suffered heavy losses from the many dead and the even greater amount injured beyond recovery. Although as time went on some of the shinobi who were presumed dead, had made appearances in Hi no Kuni, causing trouble. These missing-nins were dealt with, both swiftly and brutally for leaving their comrades to die.

The civilian side suffered very few losses as the Yondaime managed to signal for evacuation in time. The few civilians that did die were killed because they refused to leave their homes, and instead stayed and tried to help fight, most claiming that if they didn't help then they couldn't face their families as cowards. Each of those that died were buried as heroes, and their families were taken care of as well.

Still, the main cause of the rift between civilians and shinobi was a child. That child was five years old today. He had sun-kissed blonde hair, only matched by his father as well as his dad's astonishingly bright blue eyes, although most of his facial structure was defiantly received from his mother. That child was Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, although his line age is a very well kept secret in Konoha and as such, the young boy is simply known as Uzumaki Naruto. See, as the Hokage's own son, the boy was chosen to contain the Kyuubi no Kitsune and put a stop to its rampage.

The civilian side were almost all determined to kill the boy; however, there were two reasons. The first was that they thought he was the Kyuubi. The second was that they wanted to kill the Kyuubi by killing his prison, a misguided belief spread by an old bandaged-up man. The ninja side, other than a few scattered out through Konoha, know that the young child is innocent and do their best to protect the boy, but with the huge loss the ninja force took during the attack there aren't enough ninja to protect him all the time.

The re-instated Sandaime Hokage managed to keep him under ANBU guard until he was three, but after that the most he could do was give the boy an apartment and check in on him a lot. The apartment was often vandalized on the outside with the use of graffiti, but the Sandaime knew better than to leave it unguarded and put multiple security seals in place.

Of course the civilian council manages to put a stop to any real action to help the boy. Luckily the young child had a few people who help keep him fed. One of those people was feeding the boy at that moment actually. The family was the Ichiraku's, they owned a small ramen stand that many ninja in the village would frequent in order to get a quick meal before a mission. The family consists of Teuchi and his daughter Ayame.

Naruto often frequents the stand in order to get away from the harsh glares the civilians send to him on the street. Not to mention that over the past two years he hasn't really been able to cook for himself that well, but the past week Ayame had been teaching him how to make some simple dishes himself (up until Naruto was six Ayame helped him learn to cook and the ramen stand would serve him other food besides just ramen to keep him from suffering from malnutrition). She made a remarkable discovery during that time that she shared with the Hokage. It was two months ago when she took Naruto some stir fry and rice.

(Flashback Two and a Half Months)

Naruto was lying on his back inside his apartment. He was currently playing with a ball the Hokage had given him by tossing it up, bouncing off the ceiling, and catching it. The game quickly got boring as the four, almost five, year old's stomach started growling. As the blonde boy looked to the stove he thought about what Ayame did when she made food and decided on making himself something to eat.

He walked up to his stove and using a small stool turned the knob like he saw Ayame do. It started making a hissing noise, but Naruto didn't see any flame. Ayame walked in to see Naruto poking the burner with his left hand while his other hand was still on the knob, but before she could say anything, his hand slipped on the knob turning it again causing a spark to ignite the gas coming from the burner.

Naruto pulled his hand back, yelping in pain as he tried to keep the tears that we building up from coming out.

(Flashback end)

The boy's hand was badly burnt, but healed before Ayame could take him to the hospital. She then left him to eat and went and told the Hokage what happened. The secretary tried to stop her at first, but when Ayame mentioned Naruto's name, the woman let her right in. The Hokage went and examined Naruto's hand and found very little traces of the Kyuubi's chakra, just over the usual amount that flowed through the boy's system at all time.

After a quick test on the boy's blood it was discovered that he had something akin to a rapid regeneration bloodline, since Kushina never went to a hospital no matter the injuries she got in training he guessed that it came from the Uzumaki Clan. Sadly though Naruto was about to be alone, and with all the civilians that want him dead….

**_ (This is where the story truly begins)_**

Naruto walked away from the Ichiraku Ramen Stand with a big smile on his face. He had just had his best birthday dinner of his short life, and was now on his way home. However fate had different plans as the young demon container felt a sharp pain coming from the back of his head for a moment and then nothing.

The next thing Naruto felt was a sensation in his stomach. It was tingling at first, and then it started burning. The small child opened his eyes and screamed loudly, only to see a group of angry faces laughing in amusement. It was at this point that a young man stepped forward with a kunai. "It is time, FOR YOU TO DIE DEMON!" There was a roar of approval from the crowd as the man brought the kunai downward.

The last thing Naruto saw before the burning sensation in his stomach made him lose consciousness again was a wooden hand stopping the kunai from hitting him, and a hail of kunai sending the civilians running.

When the blonde woke up he was sitting in front of a fire in a wooded area he recognized from the times the Hokage took him outside the walls of Konoha. Next to the fire was a pale-skinned man with black hair and grey eyes. His clothes seemed plain, but he had a wooden figure draped across his back.

As Naruto sat up the man looked towards him. "You alright kid? You managed to get into a nasty situation back there."

Naruto looked the man in the eyes, tearing his gaze away from hole that resided in the hand of the puppet. "I'm fine sir. Were you the one who helped me?"

The man smiled and nodded. "So can I ask how you got in that situation kid?"

Naruto scrunched his nose when the man asked. "Well mister my name is Naruto, but as for why, I-" at this point the blonde boy sniffled and his expression shifted to a solemn one. "I don't know why they attacked me."

Seeing the boy upset made the older ninja's eyes widen. Suddenly he had a smirk on his face and with a single twitch from his left index figure the puppet on his back to life and was crouched in front of Naruto. For the next half hour the puppet put on a show for the young boy, moving in exaggerated ways seemingly on its own. When it was done Naruto had a huge smile on his face. "How did it do that!?"

The puppeteer smiled at the excitement laced into the young boy's voice. "Well it is the art of ninja puppetry. It is a common practice in Sunagakure."

Naruto was bouncing up and down. "Do you think you can teach me? Please I-" What the demon container was going to say was cut off as the man pulled out a scroll.

As he did he handed the scroll to Naruto. "I have been looking for someone to give this too actually." The moment he finished the sentence the man left, suddenly and before Naruto could follow.

Moments after he did the Sandaime came into the clearing. "Naruto-kun are you okay?" The boy nodded and tucked the scroll away into his hip pouch. The boy was escorted back to his apartment while telling the Hokage about the strange man, but feeling that he should leave out the part about the scroll.

That night Naruto opened the scroll and read:

_Dear Reader,_

_If you are reading this then I have decided on someone to impart my knowledge onto. You see when I was little I had a best friend I would do anything for. This lead to me taking up Kugutsu no jutsu (The Art of Puppets) in order to impress her. Now I have decided to impart my knowledge onto someone else. So I suppose from this moment on you are my unofficial apprentice. Below are details on how to access chakra and a seal. When you can access your chakra you need to focus some into the seal, which will have two effects. Both of those will be explained afterwards though, for now try to use chakra. If you already can just skip this step._

Naruto then read over a small paragraph on what chakra was and how to access it. It took him only a few minutes to finish and afterwards he spent the rest of the night trying to access his chakra. He was about to give up and go to bed when he heard something.

_**Close your eyes.**_

Seeing no reason not to, the blonde boy obeyed.

_**Focus on both your spiritual and physical energies, and bring them to your stomach.**_

Again Naruto attempted to do what he was told and succeeded.

_**Now remember that once you combine your energies to chakra, they can never be truly separated, but you shall never need to worry about combining them yourself again. If you still want to use chakra start swirling the energies in a circular pattern.**_

Naruto smirked as he started swirling the energies without a moment of hesitation.

_**Now bring them together and force them to combine.**_

Naruto started sweating bullets from the amount of concentration pushing the energies together took, but after ten minutes managed. As he did his newly formed chakra surged out of him in a pulse. The results of not only his line age (The Yondaime had enough chakra to teleport not only the Kyuubi after fighting Tobi, but also seal the beast away as well. Freakish reserves considering to teleport something you need enough chakra to cover them. Kushina also came from a prominent ninja clan.), but the beast inside him as well, as the five year old produced enough chakra to pulse out two blocks in each direction.

Afterwards the demon container passed out. When he woke up he tried to access his chakra and realized that it easily came to his call. Focusing chakra into the paper two more scrolls popped out, one of which rolled open slightly. Since it did Naruto looked at it first.

_Dear Reader,_

_Congratulations, as of this moment you are officially my unofficial apprentice. Now before I say anything else let me continue where I left off. Focusing chakra into the previous scrolls seal had two effects. The first is obvious, it released two new scrolls. This will be a theme from now on and one of the two scrolls will have a new seal on it until I have nothing more to give you. Now then I want to give you a warning. While I have included some basic puppet designs and a single technique, you will need to come up with anything else yourself._

_I actually started with a small animal as my first project, and then moved onto a simple human design and from there my work took off, but I was majorly overshadowed by Sasori of the Red Sand. The man is brilliant, but I have seen the signs of instability and was proven correct when he defected. If you ever meet him on the battlefield be careful._

_Now then this is going to be the last note I write to you and I want to explain something. If you are from Suna and seen my face then you know I am a missing-nin, but I want a chance to explain. My best friend growing up married the Yondaime Kazekage. I was happy for her, and she was happy for me when I married my crush of quite a few years. With the Kazekage she had three beautiful children, which I hoped would call me uncle from the beginning. I can't help but smile at the fact that I manage to get Kankuro interested in puppetry._

_Still during the birth of her third child, Gaara, she passed away. Her child has been treated horribly by his father because of a choice the baby couldn't even make. My dear friend was against it, but her bastard husband convinced her otherwise. Unfortunately the last straw broke when The Kazekage tried to get me to assassinate the two year old boy. I refused and attack the man instead._

_Death was to be my punishment, but I escaped… Still I know I won't last much longer the poison has taken its toll on my body and after I pass along these scrolls I will go back to Suna. I will make sure that Gaara knows that he doesn't deserve his treatment, and then I shall accept my punishment._

Naruto finished reading and sat in silence, making sense of everything. The note wasn't complicated to understand, but Naruto didn't harness the necessary mental capability to understand exactly why some people acted like they did. How could people treat a child so badly? Then Naruto connected Gaara supposed treatment to his own. The demon container frowned when he realized that as bad as the glares were, he at least had the old man and the ramen family whereas Gaara's own father wanted him dead.

Afterwards Naruto looked over the other scroll which had two chakra control exercises on it.

(Two months later)

Naruto lay in his bed looking at the material at his feet. It appeared that after completing both control exercises the next step was to make the chakra strings and build a puppet to practice with. Naruto had quickly made the decision that his unofficial sensei had a good idea in starting with a small animal. So Naruto decided to make a schedule. He would work on his puppet before he went to bed and his chakra strings once he woke up. He also received a training note, but it wasn't from his sensei.

_Now you will want to remember two things. The first is that as a puppet user you will be fighting from a distance, and most likely stay attached to horizontal surfaces in order to be higher up and get a better field of vision. Due to this you will need to be able to make your chakra strings while attached to a surface. So once you get both down separately you want to make sure they become second nature. You do this by doing the exercises so much that you don't need to think to do them. In other words PRACTICE. You will also need to do the same thing during the water walking exercise so be prepared._

The second thing to keep in mind is that you want your chakra strings to be as strong as possible while keeping them in a controlled form. This will take practice, but will have positive repercussions. Including enhanced chakra control and better chakra manipulation for shaping jutsu.

(Ten months later on Naruto's birthday)

Naruto stood in his bedroom grinning like a mad man. He managed to "catch" a ninja walking on water and asked the Hokage how it was done. Once explained to him Naruto practiced in his tub. It had taken ten months but now the freshly turned six year old could walk on water, and cling to surface while forming his chakra strings. Unfortunately he couldn't control the chakra strings at the same time making it pointless. Still while standing on the ground the blonde could easily form and move the strings.

Even so the blonde was smiling for another reason altogether. He had just finished his fox puppet. It had taken quite a while to make as Naruto had trouble with the mechanisms and construction, but he had now learnt that his human puppet and any puppets from there should be easier to make. Now all he had to do was learn how to make the puppet maneuver. Of course Naruto also wanted to make the puppet lifelike he decided against it considering it was the day of the Kyuubi festival. Still Naruto had a few hours before the Hokage picked him up, and he spent the time trying to figure out how to move the fox.

It was easy to just wrap the strings around the puppet, but that wouldn't activate any mechanisms and took up to many chakra strings. After a while Naruto got an idea though. He placed a single string on his fox puppet and used that string to pour chakra into the puppet. Then carefully he locked the chakra into place with the string and using every ounce of focus he could Naruto made the puppet lift its leg. It was at that moment that the Sandaime enter the room causing Naruto to lose focus and the puppet to drop.

When the old man saw the puppet he raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get the toy Naruto-kun?"

Naruto let out a sigh as he realized just how much concentration that it took to do even a simple move. "I made it." Over the next few hours Naruto explained everything he had been doing and how he was learning. Of course the blonde boy left out the two notes from his unofficial sensei as he felt that was something the Sandaime didn't need to know of.

When he finished explaining Naruto stood staring at the Sandaime waiting until the old man spoke. "Well Naruto I can't really tell you not to study those scrolls, after all they were left to you."

After a few more minutes the two went to Ichiraku Ramen where Ayame had Naruto help her make some dango.

Within an hour Naruto was back home in bed. Before he fell asleep he made a chakra string and attached it to fox puppet and had it crawl into his bed, and curl up at the foot of it which took almost three hours.

(Inside Naruto's Mindscape)

Two blood red eyes opened and a large white smile could be seen. Suddenly crimson chakra assaulted the prison while some slowly seeped out of the giant cage the eyes resided behind, or did as the eyes slowly faded.

(Next Morning)

Naruto opened his eyes and yawned loudly before looking around his room. He found his dining table had a banquet prepared on it and instantly went to work on eating it. About halfway through he heard a thump from the end of the table. As the six year old looked up he came face to face with fox puppet. As his eyes started widening as the puppet's eyes turned a deep red and with a smile, showing numerous pearly white teeth Naruto hadn't added, the puppet spoke. "Hey kid, care to make a deal, or are you just going to scream?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared at the puppet. Before he could say anything though the puppet's form started changing and, what now stood before him was a real flesh and blood fox with a dark rusty orange colored fur. "D-d-deal?" It was all Naruto could do to stutter out the one word question.

"Yes a deal, more beneficial to you than me, but it can't be helped considering my situation." Before Naruto could speak the fox put his tail over the boy's mouth. "You see I am very knowledgeable and quite strong, I could train and protect you, but not with as little power as I possess. So my deal is this, I can help you train, in both ninja techniques and other areas of life. This will include skills such as carpentry, blacksmithing, and other similar areas. I can make you a master in almost any area of civilian life, and give you a rather sharp edge in the ninja world, although most of my repertoire you will not be able to learn."

At this point Naruto eyes were wide and the six year old was drooling. "I shall also protect you inside the village and on missions as well if you wish it. Now I figure you won't trust me, if empty promises were all that is needed to sway all humans then your race would have died out long ago. So I suggest the ancient demon art of a contract pact. Doing this will bind me to you and force me to follow your orders although there will be some exceptions, and when you die, in lieu of the normal price I shall gain a different payment."

Naruto was staring at the fox as it talked. "So what you are saying is that you want to train me, keep me safe, and be bound to follow my commands, well for the most part?" When the fox nodded Naruto closed his eyes. "I want to know two things then. Who are you and what price will I have to pay because this sounds too good to be true?"

The fox smiled. "Well the normal payment for such a deal is the pact maker's soul-" At this point the blonde's eyes went wide, but he didn't say anything. "-but what I want is freedom. For I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune and six years ago the Yondaime sealed me inside of you. Now before you panic the only reason I attacked was to destroy the Uchiha clan for the crimes they have committed against me, and I would also like to point out the Uchiha clan was noticeably absent during my attack, as if they expected it."

Naruto tilted his head to the side at that. "So you aren't mad at Konoha?"

The vulpine gave a smirk as he stared directly into Naruto's eyes. "I have nothing but respect for Konoha, as I have respect for power. Not only has this village produced some of the strongest ninja, but it is also the strongest ninja village, even after my attack. Now do you agree to my deal or not? I am sure that we can work out the finer details throughout the day."

Naruto took a moment before replying. "I will agree on one condition."

At this point the Kyuubi smirked and a thought ran through the fox's head. 'Even with how he was treated he possesses a child-like innocence and a desire to see the good in people.' "What is your condition?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak. "I want you to vow that-"

A/N: Tha-tha- that's all folks.

_Also for those who are waiting on my other two stories, work has been keeping me busy and I haven't found much time to work._


	2. Chapter 1: Graduation from the Academy

Naruto: A Puppet Master

Chapter One: Graduation from the Ninja Academy

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Beta'ed by: afraidtochange

A/N: For the record I am going to start writing without a beta for a bit, if my writing gets to bad tell me, and I will get a new one. Afraid and me haven't talked in quite a while and she was about to start studying for something and was going to be too busy to beta.

**As for my reviews**

**Nightwish – I never thought of having a puppet made from other puppets or a lot of suicide puppets, but I may include it in there. Naruto will certainly have the resources, but I am not sure if he will do the suicide puppets because of his style of puppetry. II would like to explain what I mean but I can't seem to find the right words.**

**Silver Heart11DOOM - Thank you for being my first reviewer on this story and I will try to keep updating, but the updates may come slowly.**

_A/N: Now I was talking to a friend and felt this subject needed broached. The Kyuubi manage to temporarily slip out of the seal, but if Naruto hadn't agreed to the deal, he would have gone back inside. Now the reason he can stay out is because Naruto's parents' souls keep the seal from collapsing. As for his chakra Kyuubi has to gather it from the natural energy of the world as the chakra that was sealed is still in Naruto, and although the reason is unknown the Kyuubi's chakra in the seal replenishes itself as well. I thought this was something that should be explained in a note as it isn't too important and I was unsure of how to drop it into the story without disrupting the flow._

* * *

_Recap: At this point the Kyuubi smirked and a thought ran through the fox's head. '__**E**__**ven with how he was treated he possesses a child-like innocence and a desire to see the good in people.**__' "__**What is your condition?**__"_

_Naruto opened his mouth to speak. "I want you to vow that-"_

* * *

(**Six years later**)

Naruto was currently walking towards the academy. It was a week before the final exam and he couldn't help but look back on the past six years. His pet fox Kuro had caused some trouble with the council, but the problem was handled quickly with a quick two sentences given to Naruto by Kyuubi. Of course thinking about that moment made Naruto think of his parents as well.

(_**Flashback**_ _**Naruto is a seven, one week before the Uchiha Massacre**_)

_Naruto stood in front of the council with Kuro on his shoulder. "Is there something that the council needs from me?"_

_At this point a brown-haired civilian growled. "You will speak when spoken to you little bastard."_

"_Ow a blow about my lack of parents, you wound me sir." At this point Naruto placed a hand on his heart. "Or rather you would if it wasn't something I still worried about. You see I know who my parents are, so go ahead and talk bad about them if you want."_

_The Sandaime eyes widened, "What do you mean you know who they are Naruto?"_

_The blonde looked at the old man with a slightly sad smile on his face. "Well, you see, last year when I was visiting you in your office, you had to step out for a bit. I fell on something and cut my hand open. When I stood up I touched the wall just under the Yondaime's picture, activating a blood seal and receiving a scroll that I was meant to receive when I turned chunin. In it was a detailed explanation of why my father sealed the Kyuubi in me."_

_Instantly the civilian council were on their feet shouting about him lying. Naruto had to hand it to the Hokage; he was a very patient man considering he didn't snap at them. "I wouldn't have believed it myself but," At this point the entire council looked towards the blonde. "I went to where the house stood and managed to enter the lower levels, where his library and study was. It also seemed that my father kept my mother and his journals in the library. I can't recall how many pages I read from my mother's and yet," A small smile came to his face. "She wrote quite a few on just how happy being pregnant with me had made her."_

_Instantly the Uchiha councilor rose up. "We still most discuss that follower of yours. Foxes shouldn't deserve to be in Konoha after what the Kyuubi did."_

_Naruto looked towards the man. "Well then perhaps the Uchiha should be removed from Konoha as well, as it was Madara who summoned the Kyuubi the first time it attacked. Then again there is also the fact that your clan was notably absent during the attack seven years ago."_

_At this point the rest of the council turned to Fugaku and glared. "We have all been wondering about that as well." It was Tsume that spoke and everyone knew she wanted to know more than any of them. After all, she lost her husband that day and the Uchiha fighting would have saved numerous lives. Naruto took that moment to slip out the door sending a silent thanks that the Kyuubi was right and no one noticed that Naruto shouldn't have known about the Uchiha's absence. _

_(__**Flashback end**_)

Naruto took the time they were fighting to slip out of the room and the subject was never broached again. On the plus side it gave Naruto a good reason to start rebuilding the Namikaze Compound, something that he had completed within three years. The money was no problem and neither was the building process, after the Kyuubi taught Naruto some of the fundamentals he had been lacking, he had the boy learn the Kage Bunshin technique and shape shifting technique. The technique didn't have a name and was undetectable unless around an advanced sensory-type ninja.

Using both of those Naruto had a job in almost every field in Konoha. As he got older he added more to the pool of clones and jobs were the one thing Konoha would never have a shortage of. Whether it was rebuilding something or just fixing up training grounds, there was always paying work. After all, things seemed to break around ninja. Houses would have their structures destroyed or compromised all the time. Especially by a green-spandex maniac that had to challenge a silver-hair ANBU at everything. Carpentry was the first job Naruto actually sent a clone out to get and while he knew a bit from the Kyuubi, having his clones actually getting real world experience did wonders for his skills.

Another thing that happened at the age of seven was the Kyuubi making Naruto start cooking for the both of them. Of course none of that involved ninja training. Over the past six years Naruto had learnt a few taijutsu styles but mainly tried to keep out of the way. His accuracy rivaled a jonin's and that included with his bow, a weapon he took up at due to a recommendation from Kyuubi. His kenjutsu was genin level, but he hated using his sword, it made him feel too close to the enemy.

His ninjutsu was weird; he only knew a couple jutsu because he mainly worked on his puppetry, but the jutsu he knew were useful at times. Genjutsu he left up to his ninja companion, his fox Kuro. Fuinjutsu was low jonin level, as it had to be with his puppets requiring seals. Then there was puppetry. Naruto loved puppets. They worked for cheering kids up, and battle tools. Both of which he was quite good at; still the battling section he lacked experience in.

Still Naruto wished that he was better. There was always room for improvement and sadly it was about to be proven.

_-(Story truly begins herey)-_

Naruto was on his way to the academy when he sensed something was off, but before he could do anything he felt a sharp pain in his neck. As quickly as the pain appeared, it faded and Naruto felt himself falling forward, unable to move.

When he finally found his strength returning he sent a mental message. '_Kyuubi I have been kidnapped, transform into your shinobi form bring two tails (1) of strength and come get me._'

Naruto knew that Kyuubi was on his way even without receiving an answer. Suddenly Naruto was thrown into a room. Next to him was a frowning silver-haired kid, his age. Everyone left the room and beside him and the boy who was frowning. "So Danzo decided someone else showed too much emotion it seems."

Naruto looked over at the sliver haired boy. "So that bandaged creep is behind this. Whatever, it won't matter much longer." As he finished talking both boys heard a scream from somewhere close by. "That old man made a very bad move." Again more screams were heard. "And we will be released in three, two, on-" Naruto didn't get to finish the word as the door to the room he was in was broken open.

As it did a man walked in. He had dark orange hair and red eyes. He was wearing a black silk kimono. "**You could have easily broken out of your chains kid.**"

"I know Kuro, but I didn't need to, so will you take the chakra repressing seals off or what?" As Naruto spoke Kuro did just that, and once done Naruto snapped the ropes holding his hands together. "Free him and make sure he gets to the Hokage's office, I need to hurry back to the academy."

Naruto rushed outside to find himself in a tunnel and once he got out of that he saw he was outside of Konoha. "Well I may as well not go to school. Guess I will go train then."

(**That Night**)

Naruto lay in his bed with a fox form Kuro curled up on his other pillow. "**Why didn't you at least try to escape yourself?**"

Naruto turned and looked towards the fox. "That is your job when I ask you to do it, isn't it?"

After letting out a yawn the fox replied. "**Yes I remember my vow. I shall protect you and your family in exchange for my freedom, and much like you kit I never go back on my word. As long as none in your line betray me, you shall have my protection. As long as they ask for my help, they shall have it… Still you could have broken free of those ropes and took off your seals at least, so why didn't you?**"

"I am unsure on what that silver haired kid will remember, so I wanted to appear weak, and I didn't want to make him forget because then he would forget how he escaped, raising even more questions." As Naruto explained the Kyuubi nodded.

"**Yes, but I doubt that any of those questions would get answered. Anyway how is your work in poisons coming?**" Naruto yawned and mumbled good and they both fell asleep.

When Naruto woke up he started making breakfast. For the Kyuubi he made bacon and sausage and for himself he made some grilled chicken onigiri. Once he was done the food was quickly eaten, and Naruto went through his morning rituals.

(**Exam day**)

Naruto walked into his classroom to see that no one else was there. It seemed to be a common occurrence; Naruto would arrive first and sit alone. While he had made friends with a few classmates he preferred to be left alone so he could work on ideas for his puppets. Actually the only people who sat next to Naruto were his two best friends.

The first was Gaara (2) a _runaway (3)_ from Suna that Konoha took in. After proving how skillful he was at manipulating sand Gaara joined the academy. The second was Yakumo Kurama. Naruto was unsure why but Kyuubi seemed to like her and respect her clan. (4) Naruto became fast friends with her and learned that she had a demon attacking her. The simple solution, Kyuubi to the rescue.

Yakumo walked in at that moment and Kuro, in his fox form, jumped onto her lap. Gaara appeared next and the three sat in quiet until the test was started. The first test was written and the three friends finished rather quickly. As they did they were told to go wait outside for the accuracy section of the test. As the three sat outside waiting on everyone, the silence was finally broken.

"So do you guys hope we get put on the same team?" As Yakumo asked both Naruto and Gaara nodded.

Naruto lay all the way down looking towards the sky. "You guys are my best friends, of course I do. Plus we would make one hell of a team. We got you launching genjutsu left and right, Gaara has an extremely powerful defense and can kick butt in taijutsu, plus there is also his sand attacks to take into account. Then we have my puppets and ninjutsu, plus I can get up close to take people out with my taijutsu and when my kenjutsu gets better-"

Naruto let the sentence hang as he unsealed the katana Kyuubi had him buy. It wasn't that he didn't like the sword; although he did prefer to stay back, but he was just too small to use it. Naruto just let it disappear back into the seal. "Even without your katana you do fine in a fight." It was Gaara who had spoken and he made the blonde nod.

Yakumo frowned at the thought though; she was the only one of them who couldn't fight up close. She mainly relied on genjutsu, even if Naruto helped her learn a few defensive earth jutsu. She felt she was the weakest link. Naruto felt a smack from Kuro's tail and noticed her down-cast expression. "And just wait till we graduate, then I can actually give you guys some jutsu scrolls, I have a couple in mind for Yakumo all ready. She'll be able to kick some serious ass."

That made the girl smile; she noticed how different Naruto acted around them, like he didn't need to keep his guard up. Eventually the rest of the students started trickling out in groups of two or three. Finally everyone was out and the Accuracy portion began. Iruka stepped in front of the students. "Okay so the test is simple throw your kunai and shuriken at the target, but if someone has something else they believe they can hit a target with then they can get extra marks. Begin."

Both Yakumo and Gaara got nine out of ten with both shuriken and kunai. Then Uchiha Sasuke stepped up. He got ten out of ten with shuriken and nine out of ten with kunai. He felt like a big shot and opened his mouth. "See you losers can't beat an Uchiha."

Naruto knew the comment was directed towards Gaara and Yakumo both of whom could beat Sasuke in different fields. Still the comment made Naruto slightly angry. "It isn't over yet Uchiha, I haven't gone."

That caused a lot of the kids to laugh as Naruto generally scored average in his exams to keep his skills hidden. Yet, there was something about the Uchiha calling his friends losers that made him want to win. So he stepped up and in a flash threw ten shuriken and ten kunai, all of which hit the outer most portion of the bulls-eye on each of their targets, then in a flash he unsealed his bow and fire ten arrows. Each arrow hit dead center of the bulls-eye of all ten targets.

As Naruto sealed his bow away the class stood with their jaws on the ground. "Looks like you're the loser, teme."

As Naruto walked back to his friend Gaara gave him a strange look. "What happened to keeping most of our skills hidden?"

Naruto knew he should say sorry and that Gaara was right, but he decided on waiting until later to say that, as Gaara had this coming. "What happened to you asking out Yakumo?" The blonde made sure to say it quietly and almost burst out laughing at the look that crossed the red-head's face. "I know your right, but I really just can't stand Sasuke and I was sick of putting up with his attitude."

Gaara nodded his head in understanding and Yakumo decided to interrupt. "So Gaara what did Naruto whisper to you, it made you look like you had just got stuck in my lightning genjutsu."

Both boys shuddered at that. Yakumo had a habit of including lightning bolts in genjutsu just to add to the pain. "No-Nothing Yakumo, just a joke that I wasn't expecting him to make."

Yakumo looked suspicious, but was called to do her genjutsu test.

(**Two hours later**)

Naruto walked out of the final exam room with a hitai-ate on his head. When he did he saw a glare coming his way from Sasuke, who was still most likely sour about Naruto's performance earlier. The blonde took his seat next to Gaara and Yakumo, who were both wearing hitai-ates as well. "So you guys want to celebrate our graduating together?" When the both nodded Naruto looked at his desk. "My house or the cabin?"

At this point they both assumed their thinking pose. Gaara let out a large breath and closed his eyes and Yakumo started tapping her fingers on her desk. After a few a few minutes the both replied. "Cabin"

Naruto nodded and pulled out a little piece of paper, jotting down the supplies they would need, as it was just the four of them, and started making plans. "Kuro, you know what to do."

The fox, which had taken to sleeping on either Naruto's shoulder or Yakumo's lap during the exam yipped and left with the paper in his mouth. "So do you guys want to invite anyone else to the party? We are at least on speaking turns with a few of the graduates. Then again they will most likely be doing something with their families."

After a brief moment of discussion Naruto sent a paper football at Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Shino, Sasuke, Sai (5), and Sakura's desk; although the last three were a gesture of peace and Ino barely made the cut.

They were rather surprised when the footballs were kicked back rather quickly and everyone but Sakura and Sasuke said they were in. They also added that they would bring their close relatives for the graduation party if it was okay, and Naruto sent them a note agreeing.

Afterwards the blonde boy closed his eyes. '_Kyuubi change of plans, some of our graduating class is coming and bringing family, which includes the Akamichi._'

After a few seconds Naruto felt a sharp spike of pain in the back of his head, although he had grown so accustomed to it, he managed to ignore it completely. '_**I wish you would have told me that sooner, now I have to go back to the store.**_'

Naruto ignored the comment and opened his eyes to see Iruka standing in front of the class talking about something. "Now then the Rookie of the Year is Uchiha Sasuke."

Instantly there was a squeal made from the combined voice of every girl in the class, sadly that was drowned out by Sakura's mega-squeal, which caused quite a few ears to start bleeding.

(**That Night**)

Naruto was lying in a clearing in front of a cabin, all around him was decorated for a party. As he lay on the ground waiting he heard a rustle in the bushes at the south side. '_I gave everyone directions so they would come from the west, which is also the only route, Gaara and Yakumo ever take._'

Suddenly a kid that looked like Naruto and Iruka burst into the clearing. As they both landed they noticed Naruto making the boy raise an eyebrow. "What the-"

He was cut off by the Naruto turning into mud. When it did, a giant shuriken came flying into the clearing, only to be stopped by a wall of sand. As that happened Mizuki appeared from the south and both Gaara and Yakumo came from the west.

As they did Naruto saw something on Iruka's back. "Sensei why do you have the forbidden scroll?"

"Mizuki stole it." Iruka had gained a deadly serious tone. "Mizuki stole the scroll and was planning on making it seem as if you did it using that clone, but I managed to get the scroll back."

Naruto turned and saw the hate in Mizuki's eyes. "Gaara, Yakumo, I'll handle this, make sure the guest are comfortable when they arrive, and Gaara if you could, protect our little set-up."

Before Iruka could object he was pulled out of the way of another shuriken. He frowned when his body moved on its own until he was back next to Gaara. "Hey Naruto, do you want to know why the villagers hate you?"

Naruto just shook his head at the method Mizuki tried to use to psyche him out. "Because of the Kyuubi being sealed inside me, yeah Yakumo, Gaara, and I already know. Now shut it and let's fight."

Mizuki complied and charged forward. As he got within striking distance Naruto had to move back, only for the blonde to create a single shadow clone which tackled Mizuki. Naruto took the time to move back and bring out a scroll. At that point several people entered the clearing, actually everyone who had been invited and their families.

"Let me show you something Mizuki-teme." Naruto had a smirk on his face as he said it.

"And what do you think a brat like you can show me!?" Mizuki screamed out, still thinking he could win.

"What happens to traitors." As he spoke he slung open his scroll and unsealed two puppets. The first was an animal, a wolf to be specific, it had dark grey fur covering it and its eyes seemed to glow blue. The second was a man, styled after the Kyuubi's human form. He had dark orange hair with black running through it and red eyes, although they didn't have the animalistic slit.

"Your time is up Mizuki-teme." As he said it Naruto attached two chakra strings to both puppets and they instantly sprung to life. In a flash the wolf was in front of Mizuki while the human stood in front of Naruto. Mizuki panicked and threw his last windmill shuriken which sliced through the wolf puppet and was then caught by the human puppet.

Much to everyone's surprise though, seals ignited across the wolf as the wood stitched itself back together making the puppet whole once again. (6) Mizuki stood in shock as the wolf opened his mouth showing a new seal array that started glowing until suddenly fire spewed from the wolf's mouth. Mizuki dove to the side and straightened himself in a roll. "You think a weak attack lik-"

Mizuki was cut off as his windmill shuriken slashed him across the back. He grunted and turned around only to be hit in the face by the human puppet. As the force of the blow knocked him back Mizuki felt the teeth of the wolf puppet tear into the flesh of his arm before it threw him into the air.

Then as Mizuki reached the zenith of the throw human puppet was before him and, with a chakra fueled axe kick, Mizuki was sent crashing to the ground. Naruto signaled Gaara to let the sand down which the boy did. As he did though, Mizuki rose up covered in dark markings and looking a lot fitter. "Fuck Gaara, Yakumo, first tier method two."

Both Gaara and Yakumo nodded and went to work. Gaara was the first to show any signs of attacking when he called his sand to wrap around Mizuki. Yakumo had instantly gone to drawing and within moments Mizuki was screaming as his body was fooled into believing he was being struck by lightning. Then Naruto moved his human puppet up. The puppet touched Mizuki in the stomach and suddenly a spike grew out his back dripping with red and purple liquid.

Naruto sighed as Mizuki fell unconscious and the marks receded. "Well then time to have our celebrations, I am sure that Iruka can handle it from here."

Naruto tried to ignore the questioning gazes as he went to work on; well there was nothing to do so he started fiddling with a tablecloth. Iruka nodded and took Mizuki while the clan heads left as well telling their children to be home by midnight at the earliest, ah the perks of being a ninja. There were a few extras. Choji brought a girl whose mom was friends with his, Hinata brought her cousin Neji and his team, Kiba brought his older sister.

After a few minutes of stares Naruto felt Kuro's paw. "Oh sorry Kuro one sec." As he said that everyone raised an eyebrow, it only got higher when Naruto pulled out a bottle of sake and a bowl and gave them both to Kuro. They all watched as the fox placed both paws on the side of the bottle and used his teeth to take to cork off. The fox then picked up the bottle with his teeth and poured the sake into the bowl. That quickly became a topic of interest and the party kicked off. After a few minutes though someone wouldn't give the matter up, the moment Naruto turned on music he was pulled into a dance by the female genin from Neji's team.

As Naruto showed off his flawless dancing skills, quite thoroughly pounded into his head by the Kyuubi, along with a few other things, the girl spoke. "Hey my name's Tamura Tenten (7)."

Naruto instantly went into social protocol mode. "Uzumaki Naruto, and may I say that it is a shame that I didn't get to ask such a pretty girl for a dance. Although the dance itself, is a pleasure."

Tenten smiled at that. "So where did you learn to dance Naruto?"

Naruto smiled at her question although he was aware that quite a few people were now watching and listening. "I learned with the help of a friend, although I hardly see him anymore. What about you, you are quite skilled? (8)"

"My mother taught me. She loves to dance." Tenten at this point got a little side-tracked as she saw Neji glaring at them, but as she slipped Naruto caught her and brought her into a dip, before pulling her back up.

Naruto noticed the glare as well and it made him raise an eyebrow. "So your teammates," at this point Naruto heard her other teammate mumble something about youth. "they seem, eccentric."

The word made Tenten laugh slightly. "I would defiantly say Lee is eccentric. That isn't the word I would use to describe Neji though. He is just well… a Hyuga a guess." Naruto nodded his head and waited for her next question. "So Gaara and Yakumo seemed to work well with you. How often do you guys train together?"

Naruto looked over at Gaara who was standing at the table showing no emotion; he rarely did in front of people. "We train together often enough."

Realizing that was all she would get Tenten moved on. "So do you often use your puppets during your training session?" Naruto didn't reply to the question though instead in closed his eyes and let out an exhale. "You know," Of course he opened them when she started talking again. "puppets are rare outside of Suna and puppeteers even more so, where did you learn all that?" Again Naruto avoided the question. "Are you willing to tell me anything about the puppets?"

"The human one is named **Zaigou (Sin)** and the wolf is named **Kyōfu (Terror)**." Naruto almost chuckled when Tenten eyes gleamed at the meager information. "Why are you so interested in my puppets?"

Tenten hesitated, but then a thought occurred to her. "Information for information, if you want to know you have to answer one question."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, but realized that his conversation just turned completely into a business transaction. After-all information was a business in and of itself. "Very well, but the answers I give will only be worth the answers I get."

Tenten nodded and took a second to collect her thoughts. "I have a slight obsession with weapons. My father Kenta runs a weapon shop that he opened years ago. Eventually I learnt the transportation seal, allowing me to carry thousands of weapons at a time. Still I have never met a ninja puppeteer and to actually see a battle puppet in Konoha is shocking."

Naruto nodded and figured he would answer an already asked question. "I rarely use my puppets during my training sessions, with Gaara and Yakumo, but when I am alone it is my favorite thing to train in. I of course also have incredible accuracy, especially with my bow, and have some skill with a sword, although I wouldn't put it above genin level. When with Gaara and Yakumo I generally use taijutsu and ninjutsu. Now tell me about this weapon shop and your team."

Tenten nodded and realized that the two had moved off to the side of the party and were now sitting in front of a cabin. She also made the connection to the increased movement she felt when he asked about her interest in his puppets. She also noticed both her teammates and Naruto's friends keeping an eye on them. "My father opened the weapon shop twenty years ago after he was forced to retire as a ninja. The shop is rather plain, but has the best weapons in town and that isn't pride talking, my father was the man who forged the Yondaime's special kunai although the Yondaime added things to them all the time.

As for my team there is Rock Lee and Hyuga Neji. Neji is a typical Hyuga while Lee is a mini-clone of our sensei. His name is-"

"Maito Gai Konoha's strongest Taijutsu user, met him once or twice." At this point Tenten looked at Naruto. "I learned puppetry by myself, how to build them, how to make chakra strings, and no one officially trained me. I only had some notes from a man who saved my life once to use as a base. Other than that it is purely my stubborn determination."

Tenten looked at Naruto slightly amazed. "Well I have to go, late night at the shop and I have to work early in the morning."

Naruto nodded as Tenten left. '_Strange girl, but at least she takes her training seriously, there were so many bruises on her, all of which come from the Jūken. That Hyuga must be a rough sparring partner._'

As the night dragged on Naruto spent most of his time leaning against the shed observing people, although he did have an interesting chat with Hana who wanted to know how his wolf puppet looked so real.

_A/N: Sorry for all the notes, but the subjects seemed like they needed to be broached._

_Kyuubi doesn't need too much of his chakra because his shinobi form has a human chakra network. Perks of having a body created from thought, ne_

_Naruto knew about Gaara and how he was treated, if he didn't help he wouldn't be Naruto._

_Technically Naruto had Kyuubi go to Suna and kidnap Gaara, but it was for Gaara's own good right?_

_Yakumo's last name is Kurama and her clan specializes in Genjutsu which kitsune are famous for. Kyuubi was most certainly involved somewhere down the line._

_Sai joined the academy late in the year and is often seen with a silver-haired kid older then himself, so Naruto avoids him._

_Naruto had two chakra strings to keep the pieces together should they get torn apart. The seals can fix them, but if the parts get separated then fixing them has to wait till after battle._

_Tenten has the last name Tamura because that is the last name of the voice actor who does her voice in the Japanese series._

_Now I do believe that it is customary to ask simple question and have small talk before asking serious question or talking business in Japanese culture, so I am trying to make this like that since the anime is Japanese._


End file.
